"Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with bagels from Ess-a-Bagel."

Another reason to love New York, I suppose.

The phantom poncho-viewer.

v

Speaking of ponchos, the weatherman on the CBS early show doing the forecast in a poncho. I later determined that it was some sort of Martha Stewart joke, but at the time I just thought he had gone bonkers.

I saw a TV commercial for a living-room set called "The Ernest Hemingway Collection."



What's next? The Complete Sylvia Plath Kitchen? The Anne Sexton Barware and Pill Organizer Set?

From today's NYTs:

I assume the author thinks Napoleon III's regime a good thing: he/she surely can't be referring the yellow chemical spread.

At this very moment, the Reasons to Be Cheerful thread and the Annoyances thread both have 1966 posts. But Annoyances thread has 31393 views and the Cheerful thread, only 30584.

I don't get it. Who saw the first Miss Congeniality?

Me and Sandra's mum.

I saw it too. On cable, of course of course.

Really funny the way she kept on, like, falling over. Can't wait to see what makes her fall over in #2.

I loved miss congeniality. It goes into the same category as Legally Blond- something that could have been truly awful but was actually clever and cute.

Miss Congeniality was a really cute movie. Complete mindless fluff. But sometimes that's what you need.

This is worse than I feared.

FWIW, Abs, I have no doubt the sequel will suck.

I hate Sandra Bullocks.

Good, but I'll think twice about asking if anyone here saw Jersey Girl.

How about that Bennifer movie, what was it called? Gigli. Oh sure.

There's a Jersey Girl 2???

Wilfrid's mention of bagpipes elsewhere reminded me of an extraordinarily surreal occurrence of several years ago. I was dating this Scot & had finally relented and let him stay the night. Next morning – a bright and sunny summer one – we were sitting on the back deck having breakfast and reading the paper, and from somewhere across the river, a bagpipe started up playing – a tune I didn't recognize – but clear, with no warm-up droning. My Scots friend looked over at me and said “You have a neighbor that plays the bagpipes?”. Um, no. I didn't. Never heard them in the neighborhood in all the 14 years I'd been there. The pipes played through to end of the tune, then stopped. Never heard from again (the pipes, that is...kept seeing the fellow for a few more months, but it turned up that he was into wearing skirts – and I don't mean kilts).

Watching my neighbor finally taking down the last of his Christmas lights (must be a spring chore ).

Maybe your neighbor could have a chat with mine. Theirs stay up year 'round (including the internally-lit plastic Santa.)

"Kiss Me I'm Irish" tee-shirts.

Being Irish is not enough.

Finding myself, through a series of events too uninteresting to recount here, having lunch yesterday in the US House of Representatives Members Dining Room and ordering a crab cake sandwich which the menu promised came with pickle, cole slaw and freedom fries.

Haven't they renamed the pickle Spitzer?

Completely oblivious, I dressed myself in a forest green cotton turtleneck this morning and husband got dressed in a forest green Eddie Bauer shirt today BEFORE we knew it was St. Patrick's Day.

VERY WEIRD DAY in downtown LA.
The movie (The Man starring Sam L Jackson) which is shooting across the street is subbing Fourth and Main LA for Toronto which was subbing for NYC. They are crashing cars and have also employed a large number of extras dressed as homeless, when there are at least twenty of our own homeless regulars hanging out on the street waiting for their moment of glory...
Meanwhile the Irish parade complete with river dancers and bagpipes traveled up Broadway earlier, smiling and waving to large groups of Hispanic merchants and street denziens who could give a fuck, the cumbia and mariachi music from the shops competing with the braying of the bagpipes..
And my next door neighbor has installed a Lawrence Welk bubble machine outside his market which is blowing HUNDREDS of tiny bubbles directly into the faces of my customers eating on the patio. AND he won't turn it off, because he thinks it's good for his business. And the Teriyaki crack house next to him, which got shut down for having a Major Roach Infestation, has just re-opened today under a new sign called "Burgers and Sh*t".

I am not making any of this up.

That is one of the best post I've read at MF, ever.

It's like a Gilbert and Sullivan song, waiting to be performed.

Especially for johnboy, Ms J and My Kong.

v

Porkpie as wedding cake? Yuck. Right now I am dreaming of johnboy's cake--the one he made for Miss J (as she was then). It sounded sooo good.

Fox is starting up a new sitcom, I think this Wednesday, called Life On A Stick, based on the Hot Dog On A Stick franchise. Sounds stupid and probably is. But the uniforms are surreal. http://www.suntimes.com/output/entertainme...day-finn20.html

Read in a bakery today:

Stressed is Desserts spelled backwards.

A new eatery in Brooklyn, called "Dhaka Indian Restaurant".

I just got off the phone with Sukiyabashi Jiiro - the Ginza branch and our conversation went like this:

Me: "Hello, my name is --, I would like to enquire about making a resevation?" (all done in a very formal manner as there is an entire separate set of words you use on the phone with someone as to everday Japanese).

Sukiyabashi Jiro: "May I enquire if you are Japanese?" (I think my name stumped him)

This question always throws me when a Japanese person asks me this. I am, but they wouldn't consider me to be since I was born and raised in America. The proper term for what I am is "Nikkei-America-jin".

Me: "Well, I'm calling from England."

Sukiyabashi Jiro: "Well the truth is, our restaurant only caters to Japanese clients."

Stunned silence from me.

Me: "Would you make an exception for a Japanese-American?"

Sukiyabashi Jiro: "I'm very sorry", excuse excuse excuse in terribly polite Japanese.



Me: "I see, but your Roppongi branch serves non-Japanese customers?"

Sukiyabashi Jiro: "Yes, please allow me give you the number."

He gives me the number.

I forgot that when I return to Japan I'm going to be re-entering the twilight zone.
I should have introduced myself by my maiden name, then he might have thought I was a Japanese woman.... The Ginza branch is the original Sukiyabashi Jiro (there are two) and the sushi counter is still overseen by the man who many Japanese believe to be the best and the most respected sushi chef in the world. It appears to be one of those places where a foreigner has to go as the guest of a regular customer to get in.

I called to tell my husband what happened and he said:

"I propose that from now on Anchor and Hope as well as St John's only allow British people in to dine."

Watch out Ms. J Here kitty kitty!

I know! B's already referred to it as the Beast of Sydenham. We've locked our little snack-sized kitty in the house today to keep her safe.

Looks like I'll have to ring home to get some cougar-wrangling updates. (Look it in the eye? Try to look big/menacing? Don't run/hide/act like prey?)

A minor one.

Sitting in the dentist's waiting room, I look up and notice on the coffee table, a large vase filled with three types of Hershey's Kisses.

I ate a pig wing.

It was gooooood.